Fatal accident trial postponed

ESCANABA – The trial for a Gwinn truck driver accused of causing the deaths of an Escanaba couple last year has been postponed to late April, according to Delta County Circuit Court officials.

The five-day trial of Harley Davidson Durocher, 25, was scheduled to begin Monday but has been rescheduled to take place April 21-25. Durocher is charged with six 15-year felonies in connection with the deaths of Thomas Swift, 73, and his wife, Barbara Swift, 73, last March.

Durocher was driving a logging truck in Gladstone when he allegedly failed to stop at a red light on U.S. 2 and 41/M-35 and collided with the Swift’s car at the South Hill Road intersection on March 20.

Thomas, the driver of the vehicle, was killed in the accident. Barbara, a passenger in the car, died from her injuries four days later.

Another driver involved in the crash – Joyce Scheriff, 72, of Gladstone – was transported to OSF St. Francis Hospital where she was admitted for treatment and later released.

Durocher was not injured in the accident. He is charged with two counts of reckless driving causing death, two counts of operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license causing death, and two counts of operating a motor vehicle with the presence of a controlled substance (marijuana) causing death.

Durocher was released from Delta County Jail on June 28 after posting $2,500, or 10 percent of a $25,000 bond. His trial wa scheduled for last December before being rescheduled to February then rescheduled to April.